老鼠和猫

老鼠和猫

一天黄昏，一个诗人遇到了一个农民。诗人是孤僻的，农民是见人腼腆的，然而他们谈起话来了。

农民说："让我把一个最近听到的小故事讲给你听吧。一只老鼠给逮在捕鼠笼里了；老鼠快乐地吃着摆在笼子里的干酪时，有一只猫在笼子旁边。老鼠颤抖了一会儿，不过它心里明白，身在笼子里，它是安全的。

"于是猫开口道：我的朋友，你正在吃你最后的一餐啊。"，是的，老鼠答道：我只有一条命，因此只死一次。可你又如何呢？据说你有九条命。

难道这不是意味着你必须死九次吗？"农民瞧瞧诗人，说："这岂不是个新奇的故事吗？"诗人没有回答农民，他走了开去，心灵里却在寻思："千真万确，我们有九条命，确确实实是九条命。因而我们要死九次，确实要死九次。也许，还不如只有一条命，给逮在一只笼子里一一一过着一个农民的生活，只有一小片干酪作他的最后一餐。然而，难道我们不是沙漠和林莽里的狮子的亲戚吗？"

The Mouse And The Cat

Once on an evening a poet met a peasant. The poet was distant and the peasant was shy, yet they conversed.

And the peasant said, "Let me tell you a little story which I heard of late. A mouse was caught in a trap, and while he was happily eating the cheese that lay therein, a cat stood by. The mouse trembled awhile, but he knew he was safe within the trap.

"Then the cat said, You are eating your last meal, my friend.

"Yes, answered the mouse, one life have I, therefore one death. But what of you? They tell me you have nine lives. Doesnt that mean that you will have to die nine times?"

And the peasant looked at the poet and he said, "Is not this a strange story?"

And the poet answered him not, but he walked away saying in his soul, "To be sure, nine lives have we, nine lives to be sure. And we shall die nine times, nine times shall we die. Perhaps it were better to have but one life, caught in a trap -- the life of a peasant with a bit of cheese for the last meal. And yet, are we not kin unto the lions of the desert and the jungle?"